NBA: 5 Least Likely Players To Score 50 Points Recently

Kobe Bryant has scored 50 or more points 26 times in his career and LeBron James has 10 such games but neither of these names having these many games of 50+ points comes as much of a surprise. One has been a pure scorer all of his 20 years with the Los Angeles Lakers while the other has the knack to score plenty of points despite him not particularly being known to be a score-first player.

In this list, we discuss 5 players you will be surprised to know that they have a 50-point game on their resume. These are 5 players for whom the 50-point game is probably the highlight of their career.

Here is the list of the five recent highly unlikely players to score 50 or more:

#5 Rashard Lewis - Seattle SuperSonics

When and Where: 31st October 2003 at the Saitama Super Arena, Japan

Rashard Lewis averaged 14.9 points in a career spanning 17 years and 1049 games. The numbers surely don't show the signs of a player who could possibly score 50 in a game.

The 2-time All-Star, however, had other plans. While in Japan, as part of a two-game series with the LA Clippers to tip-off the 2003-04 regular season, Lewis erupted for 50 points on the second night of a back-to-back. He made 72.0% of his field goals while shooting 4-of-7 on 3's and 10-of-13 from the charity stripe.

He also had 8 rebounds, 4 assists, and a block. Riding his hot hand, the SuperSonics won the game by 19 points, after winning the first one by nine.

Lewis was part of the generation that was still getting used to the 6"9'+ players having a score-first role. His ability and talent at his size made him a huge asset to any team that he played on.

#4 Terrence Ross - Toronto Raptors

When and Where: 25th January 2014 at the Air Canada Center, Toronto

Terrence Ross, the 8th pick overall in the 2012 Draft, has started in only 176 of his total 409 games and of his six years in the league so far, he's never averaged more than 26.7 minutes over an entire season.

Again, these are not numbers that would convince you to put your money on him to score 50 but things just went his way one night. Against a competitive LA Clippers team without Chris Paul, Ross had it going early and just never looked back. Unfortunately, the team lost DeMar DeRozan and thus lost the game but Ross had entered his name into the history books anyway.

His points tally of 51 was a career-high and tied a then-franchise-record (also held by Vince Carter). He nearly doubled up on his then previous career-high 26 points. He shot 16-of-29 from the field and a career-high 10-of-17 on 3's while also grabbing 9 rebounds. He did have a chance at the free-throw line late in the game to make it to 52 points but he missed.

Ross' franchise record was only toppled by DeRozan recently, on New Year's (Jan. 1, 2018), against the Milwaukee Bucks when he had 52 points.

#3 Corey Brewer - Minnesota Timberwolves

San Antonio Spurs v Minnesota Timberwolves — Corey Brewer

When and Where: 25th January 2014 at the Target Center, Minneapolis.

For a franchise that witnessed the likes of Kevin Garnett and Kevin Love, the Minnesota Timberwolves have Corey Brewer in its record books as the tied second-highest scorer in a single game - 51 points.

Similar to the Ross, Brewer has spent the better part of his 11-years in the league coming off the bench (475 of 766 games off the bench). The Timberwolves are the only team in his career, to twice give him full seasons where has averaged more than 30 minutes a game (2009-10, 2013-14).

In this game against the Rockets, with two key starters sitting out (Love and Kevin Martin), Brewer made the most of his opportunity by exploding for 51 points in 45 minutes on the floor. He shot 19-of-30 from the field and also had 6 steals on his box score to show off.

#2 Mo Williams - Minnesota Timberwolves

When and Where: 13th January 2015 at the Bankers Life Fieldhouse, Indianapolis

Over the course of a 13-year career, Mo Williams has bounced around quite a bit - 7 teams. He was able to cap off his career with a title in 2016 with the Cleveland Cavaliers but surely till then, his 50-point game against the Indiana Pacers has got to be the highlight of his career.

This could go down as the all-time flukiest game ever.

In 44 minutes played, Williams scored 52 points while shooting 19-of-33 (57.6%) from the field and 6-of-11 (54.5%) from beyond the arc. He only missed one shot from the free-throw line (8-of-9) while also grabbing 4 rebounds and dishing out 7 assists.

For what it's worth, the 2009 All-Star combined for 54 points over his next four games.

#1 Andre Miller

Portland Trail Blazers v Phoenix Suns — Andre Miller

When and Where: 30th January 2010 at the American Airlines Center, Dallas

Andre Miller bounced around in his career as well (9 teams in 17 years) but unlike the earlier players on this list, he was no bench warmer or rotation player. Up until the final few seasons in his career, he started almost every game as his respective team's point guard. He is the only player in NBA history to have 16,000 points, 8,000 assists and 1,500 steals without making an All-Star Game.

He also ranks 10th on the all-time assists leaders with 8,524 assists.

Now, he's on this list and #1 on the list because he was never a score-first point guard like a lot of the PG's of the current generation. He was more of a floor general, an expert point guard who would get his team into their offensive sets. His career average of 12.5 points is a testament to that.

In an OT game in Dallas, Miller played 43 minutes and did everything needed to ensure a win for the team - 52 points. He also had 5 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals while shooting 22-of-31 (71.0%) from the field.